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"Yup. I put in fresh film cartridges. You didn't say."
"Good." Harshaw sighed and found that he was very tired. "That's all today, kids. Run along. Go swimming. You, too, A
A
"Want to stay and see them?"
"Oh, no! I couldn't, not the parts I Witnessed. But I would like to know - later - whether or not they show that I've slipped my clutches."
"All right."
XIII
WHEN THEY HAD GONE, Harshaw started to give instructions to Duke - then instead said grumpily, "What are you looking sour about?"
"Boss, when are we going to get rid of that ghoul?"
"'Ghoul'? Why, you provincial lout!"
"Okay, so I come from Kansas. You won't find any cases of ca
Harshaw said icily, "So? Don't put yourself out. A
Duke had been setting up a projector. He stopped and straightened up. "Oh, I didn't mean that I was quitting."
"It means exactly that to me, son."
"But - I mean, what the hell? I've eaten in the kitchen lots of times."
"So you have. For your own convenience, or to keep from making extra work for the girls. Or some such. You can have breakfast in bed, for all of me, if you can bribe the girls to serve it to you. But nobody who sleeps under my roof refuses to eat at my table because he doesn't want to eat with others who eat there. I happen to be of an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman - which means I can be a real revolving son of bitch when it suits me. And it suits me right now� which is to say that no ignorant, superstitious, prejudiced bumpkin is permitted to tell me who is, or is not, fit to eat at my table. If I choose to dine with publicans and si
Duke turned red and said slowly, "I ought to pop you one - and I would, if you were my age."
"Don't let that stop you, Duke. I may be tougher than you think and if I'm not, the commotion will probably bring the others in. Do you think you can handle the Man from Mars?"
"Him? I could break him in two with one hand!" "Probably� if you could lay a hand on him." "Huh?"
"You saw me try to point a pistol at him. Duke - where's that pistol? Before you go flexing your biceps, stop and think - or whatever it is you do in place of thinking. Find that pistol. Then tell me whether or not you still think you can break Mike in two. But find the pistol first."
Duke wrinkled his forehead, then went ahead setting up the projector. "Some sort of sleight-of-hand. The films will show it."
Harshaw said, "Duke. Stop fiddling with that projector. Sit down. I'll take care of it after you've left and run off the films myself. But I want to talk to you a few moments first."
"Huh? Jubal, I don't want you touching this projector. Every time you do, you get it out of whack. It's a delicate piece of machinery."
"Sit down, I said."
"But-"
"It's my projector, Duke. I'll bust the damned thing if it suits me. Or: I'll get Larry to run it for me. But I do not accept service from a man alter he has resigned from my employ."
"Hell, I didn't resign! You got nasty and sounded off and fired me - for no reason."
"Sit down, Duke," Harshaw said quietly. "Either sit down� and let me try to save your life - or get off this place as fast as you can and let me send your clothes and wages after you. Don't stop to pack; it's too risky. You might not live that long."
"What the hell do you mean?"
"Exactly what I say. Duke, it's irrelevant whether you resigned or were fired; you terminated your employment here when you a
Duke looked startled, opened his mouth - closed it and sat down. Harshaw went on, "Are you Mike's water brother?"
"Huh? Of course not. Oh, I've heard such chatter - but it's nonsense, if you ask me."
"It is not nonsense and nobody asked you; you aren't competent to have an opinion about it." Harshaw frowned. "That's too bad. I can see that I am not only going to have to let you go - and, Duke, I don't want to fire you; you do a good job of keeping the gadgetry around here working properly and thereby save me from being a
Duke said slowly, "Boss, you sound like you've come unzipped. Mike wouldn't hurt anybody - shucks, this ca
"You think so?"
"I'm sure of it."
"So. You've got two or three guns in your room. I say he's dangerous. It's open season on Martians, so pick a gun you trust, go down to the swimming pool, and kill him. Don't worry about the law; I'll be your attorney and I guarantee that you'll never be indicted. Go ahead, do it!"
"Jubal� you don't mean that."
"No. No, I don't really mean it. Because you can't. If you tried it, your gun would go where my pistol went - and if you hurried him you'd probably go with it. Duke, you don't know what you are fiddling with - and I don't either except that I know it's dangerous and you don't. Mike is not 'gentle as a lamb' and he is not a savage. I suspect we are the savages. Ever raise snakes?"
"Uh� no."
"I did, when I was a kid. Thought I was going to be a zoologist then. One winter, down in Florida, I caught what I thought was a scarlet snake. Know what they look like?"
"I don't like snakes."
"Prejudice again, rank prejudice. Most snakes are harmless, useful, and fun to raise. The scarlet snake is a beauty - red, and black and yellow - docile and makes a fine pet. I think this little fellow was fond of me, in its dim reptilian fashion. Of course I knew how to handle snakes, how not to alarm them and not give them a chance to bite, because the bite of even a non-poisonous snake is a nuisance. But I was fond of this baby; he was the prize of my collection. I used to take him out and show him to people, holding him back of his head and letting him wrap himself around my wrist.
"One day I got a chance to show my collection to the herpetologist of the Tampa zoo - and I showed him my prize first. He almost had hysterics. My pet was not a scarlet snake - it was a young coral snake. The American cobra� the most deadly snake in North America. Duke, do you see my point?"